Silly Patent #2: Life Expectancy Timepiece


US5031161, or "Life Expectancy Timepiece" is a patent on a backwards counting watch that predicts how much time you have left... alive. So I guess with this you don't have to live every day like it's your last because you know exactly how many you have left and how to ration out your time.

This invention as a whole doesn't strike me as very inventive, though I can see a case being made for its utility, as well as its non-obviousness and novelty. Though the non-obviousness argument is questionable, considering this patent application included other backwards counting watches as prior art. Regardless, I find the accuracy of such a device questionable, and the more questionable the accuracy, the more questionable the utility.

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1 comments:

  1. This seems like a ridiculous thing to patent, although no one can question its novelty. I'm interested in learning how they predict how long the wearer has to live.

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